Article: Dinoflagellate cysts from the Aptian type sections at Gargas and La Bédoule, France

Microplankton assemblages are described for the first time from the Aptian type localilies at La Bedoule and Gargas, south-east France. A total of sixty-eight species and varieties of dinoflagellate cysts are recorded, a number of which are discussed in detail, and four new species are erected. These are Aptea securigera, Cyclonephelium tabulatum, Meiourogonyaulax psoros, and Protoellipsodinium clavulum. Microplankton distribution charts for the section studied and a summary chart of selected age-significant forms are included. The following species are shown to be characteristic of, and confined to, the Aptian—Aptea polymorpha, C. tabulatum, M.psoros and Trichodinium sp. These species, together with longer-ranging forms, may be used to distinguish Aptian from Albian and Barremian strata. Finally, our stratigraphic results are compared with those described in studies of similarly-aged sediments.